Discuss Arc Fault Detection AFDs in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

Pete999

-
Esteemed
Arms
Reaction score
17,081
There has been a few posts lately asking understandable questions about the installation and the inevitable cost of installing these devices , now at present AFDs are a recommendation only, or that's how I read it, correct me if I'm wrong please feel free.
It got me thinking, and this suggestion will throw up many Ohhs and Ahhs nuisance tripping, how will we know which circuit has a fault etc? this list will be lengthy.
As I said it got me thinking has or have anyone thought about having an up front AFD similar to the upfront install of SPDDs, or is that pie in the sky, a daft suggestion etc, would love to hear any thoughts on this tricky subject.
 
There has been a few posts lately asking understandable questions about the installation and the inevitable cost of installing these devices , now at present AFDs are a recommendation only, or that's how I read it, correct me if I'm wrong please feel free.
It got me thinking, and this suggestion will throw up many Ohhs and Ahhs nuisance tripping, how will we know which circuit has a fault etc? this list will be lengthy.
As I said it got me thinking has or have anyone thought about having an up front AFD similar to the upfront install of SPDDs, or is that pie in the sky, a daft suggestion etc, would love to hear any thoughts on this tricky subject.

The problem here is if an arc is detected then everything would be switched off. It would be similar to having one up front 30mA RCD.
 
The problem here is if an arc is detected then everything would be switched off. It would be similar to having one up front 30mA RCD.
I mentioned that scenario in my post, but of course you are right.
 
It's a pity the people behind the introduction of the AFDD's haven't put a bit more info out there as to why they feel the need to introduce them into UK installations, I can't find any fire stats that attribute the cause of fire to an arc fault of the correct magnitude and signature that would operate an AFDD

At the moment I don't think there is enough info available to confidently specify AFDD's for an installation and from a fault finding perspective do we know if they are prone to nuisance tripping, how do you prove / test they will operate correctly can you test them like an RCD

I can't really see AFDD's becoming a standard fit until the cost comes down to an affordable level weather this will happen as the sales volume increases remains to be seen
 

Reply to Arc Fault Detection AFDs in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc

YOUR Unread Posts

Electrical Forum

Welcome to the Electrical Forum at ElectriciansForums.net. The friendliest electrical forum online. General electrical questions and answers can be found in the electrical forum.
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock